Arizona Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald works hard to learn new offense

It doesn’t happen to Larry Fitzgerald every morning at work, but every once in a while Cardinals coach Bruce Arians and a few of his assistants sneak up on the star receiver and toss him into the cold tub.

At least it feels that way to Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald is learning a new offense, including new positions, for the first time since 2007. He often is uncomfortable, unsure and left wondering how much he really knows about playing receiver.

That is by design.

“They don’t like for you to come in and think, ‘Oh, it’s just another day at the office,’ ” Fitzgerald said. “No, that’s not how it is. It’s like being in a cold tub every morning. They push you in there, and it’s like a shock to the body.”

That’s a good thing for Fitzgerald at this stage of his career. He’s entering his 10th season, and he knew former coach Ken Whisenhunt’s system as well as he knew his way home.

That offense was good to Fitzgerald for several years, and he’s not going to criticize it or the coaches who helped him play in a Super Bowl.

But the offense Arians brings — along with coordinator Harold Goodwin and assistant head coach Tom Moore — asks additional things of Fitzgerald.

Because he knew Whisenhunt’s offense so well, much of Fitzgerald’s preparation centered on the defensive backs he would be facing that week.

Now, it’s more book-learning.

He’s learning three receiver positions, instead of just one. In voluntary practices, it’s common to see Fitzgerald talking to Moore one-on-one and mimicking the steps of a pass route.

“Everybody wants to be good,” Moore said. “But do you really want to do everything you have to do to be good? And he does. That fires me up to see a guy who has had great success, but he’s not satisfied.

“People are always going to devise schemes to try and shut him down. You don’t want to have to play catch-up. You want to have things going for you to make him (the defender) catch up to you. That takes a lot of work.”

There aren’t many better offensive brains to pick. Moore, 74, started coaching in the NFL in 1977 with the Steelers. He’s worked with numerous great receivers, including Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Herman Moore, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne.

“You can go on and on (about) the guys he’s been around, the pedigree of the guys he’s coached,” Fitzgerald said. “Those guys are great players, but a lot of that has to do with what they are being taught.”

Fitzgerald is a seeker of knowledge on and off the field. He travels the world in the off-season and plays host to numerous NFL players at a Minnesota summer camp. He’s adept at gleaning information and incorporating it into his craft.

For instance, in Arians’ offense there’s a “Raider route,” which is essentially a 14-yard out. But it’s not simple. The route can be run in different ways based on coverage, leverage, or pressure on the quarterback, Fitzgerald said.

“Things you would not know unless you asked a coach for guidance. You have to think outside the box.”

So for the first time in years, Fitzgerald is studying at night in the off-season, although with Arians, Fitzgerald is never sure what’s going to be on the test the next day. Fitzgerald might study his usual position, the “X,” then be asked to do something completely different, like play the “Z” (flanker), or the “F,” which is sort of a slot position.

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